“Orang Yang Arif Itu Berani, Bagaimana Ia Tidak Berani, Kerana Cintanya Akan Kebenaran Telah Menyebabkan Diri Tidak Takut Mati” - Ibnu Sina.

This is my e-mail to Shaykh Imran Nazar Hosein:

Assalamu’alaikum Shaykh Imran. Sorry for interrupting you while you are busy writing book about Dajjal.

I’ve just finished watching a documentary video about Genetically Modified Food entitled: “The World According to Monsanto.” It can be watched and downloaded here: link

The video explains about some of the dangerous effects of Genetically Modified food and its consequences to the human health. It also explained how Monsanto monopolized the food industry by patenting their seed, animal husbandry, and dairy production and the negative effects to the traditional farmers. Monsanto controlled about 90% of seed production across the world and tried to replace the food production industry in Paraguay and Brazil which is based on traditional and natural farming.

Before this, I came across several hadith that showed some links between Dajjal and the production of food:

….He would then give command to the sky and there would be rainfall upon the earth and it would grow crops. Then in the evening, their posturing animals would come to them with their humps very high and their udders full of milk and their flanks stretched. He would then come to another people and invite them. But they would reject him and he would go away from them and there would be drought for them and nothing would be lef t with them in the form of wealth… (Sahih Muslim).

Narrated Al-Mughira bin Shu’ba:
Nobody asked the Prophet as many questions as I asked regarding Ad-Dajjal. The Prophet said to me, “What worries you about him?” I said, “Because the people say that he will have a mountain of bread and a river of water with him (i.e. he will have abundance of food and water)” The Prophet said, “Nay, he is too mean to be allowed such a thing by Allah”‘ (but it is only to test mankind whether they believe in Allah or in Ad-Dajjal.) (Sahih Bukhari).

What is your opinion regarding this?

Thank you.

Shaykh Imran Nazar Hosein’s reply: This is further evidence that Dajjal is the master-mind controlling such events. Our response is the remotely-located Muslim Village which produces its own food.

Imran N. Hosein

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From the hadith: “…Then in the evening, their posturing animals would come to them with their humps very high and their udders full of milk and their flanks stretched.”

…”Kemudian pada waktu petang, haiwan ternakan mereka akan pulang kepada mereka dengan bonggol yang sangat tinggi dan ambingnya penuh dengan susu dan rusuknya meregang.”

Let us see the use of rBGH hormone to artificially increase the milk production. “Despite opposition from scientists, farmers and consumers, the US currently allows dairy cows to be injected with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), also known as recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST). Developed and manufactured by the Monsanto Corporation, this genetically engineered hormone forces cows to artificially increase milk production by 10 to 15 percent.”

“Somatotropin is a naturally-occurring protein hormone produced in the pituitary gland of animals; Bovine Somatotropin (BST or bST) triggers nutrients to increase growth in young cattle and lactation (milk production) in dairy cows. Artificial BST is produced using recombinant DNA technology (biotechnology), and called rBST for short. rBST is commonly known as Bovine Growth Hormone or rBGH. When injected into cows, rBGH increases milk production 10-15 percent and in some cases up to 40 percent. ”

Source: Sustainable table

Hormon bagi pembesaran anak lembu ini disuntik ke dalam lembu bagi menjamin pengeluaran lebih banyak susu.

America’s Healthcare System is the Third Leading Cause of Death

Barbara Starfield, M.D. (2000)

Summary by Kah Ying Choo

This Journal of the American Medical Association article illuminates the failure of the U.S. medical system in providing decent medical care for Americans.

In spite of the rising health care costs that provide the illusion of improving health care, the American people do not enjoy good health, compared with their counterparts in the industrialized nations. Among thirteen countries including Japan, Sweden, France and Canada, the U.S. was ranked 12th, based on the measurement of 16 health indicators such as life expectancy, low-birth-weight averages and infant mortality. In another comparison reported by the World Health Organization that used a different set of health indicators, the U.S. also fared poorly with a ranking of 15 among 25 industrialized nations.

Although many people attribute poor health to the bad habits of the American public, Starfield (2000) points out that the Americans do not lead an unhealthy lifestyle compared to their counterparts. For example, only 28 percent of the male population in the U.S. smoked, thus making it the third best nation in the category of smoking among the 13 industrialized nations. The U.S. population also achieved a high ranking (5th best) for alcohol consumption. In the category of men aged 50 to 70 years, the U.S. had the third lowest mean cholesterol concentrations among 13 industrialized nations. Therefore, the perception that the American public’s poor health is a result of their negative health habits is false.

Even more significantly, the medical system has played a large role in undermining the health of Americans. According to several research studies in the last decade, a total of 225,000 Americans per year have died as a result of their medical treatments:

• 12,000 deaths per year due to unnecessary surgery

• 7000 deaths per year due to medication errors in hospitals

• 20,000 deaths per year due to other errors in hospitals

• 80,000 deaths per year due to infections in hospitals

• 106,000 deaths per year due to negative effects of drugs

Thus, America’s healthcare-system-induced deaths are the third leading cause of the death in the U.S., after heart disease and cancer.

One of the key problems of the U.S. health system is that as many as 40 million people in the U.S. do not have access to healthcare. The social and economic inequalities that are an integral part of American society are mirrored in the inequality of access to the health care system. Essentially, families of low socioeconomic status are cut off from receiving a decent level of health care.

By citing these statistics, Starfield (2000) highlights the need to examine the type of health care provided to the U.S. population. The traditional medical paradigm that emphasizes the use of prescription medicine and medical treatment has not only failed to improve the health of Americans, but also led to the decline in the overall well-being of Americans. Starfield’s (2000) comparison of the medical systems of Japan and the U.S. captures the fundamental differences in the treatment approach. Unlike the U.S., Japan has the healthiest population among the industrialized nations. Instead of relying on sophisticated technology and professional personnel for medical treatment as in the U.S., Japan uses its technology solely for diagnostic purposes. Furthermore, in Japan, family members, rather than hospital staff, are involved in caring for the patients.

The success of the Japanese medical system testifies to the dire need for Americans to alter their philosophical approach towards health and treatment. In the blind reliance on drugs, surgery, technology and medical establishments, the American medical system has inflicted more harm than good on the U.S. population. Starfield’s (2000) article is invaluable in unveiling the catastrophic effects of the medical treatments provided to the American people. In order to improve the medical system, American policymakers and the medical establishment need to adopt a comprehensive approach and critically examine the failure of the richest country in the world to provide decent health care for its people. The reason that they have difficulty doing that is explained on the following page.

Starfield, B. (2000, July 26). Is US health really the best in the world? Journal of the American Medical Association, 284(4), 483-485.

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Some Banks Charge Higher Interest than Moneylenders. When a bank charges interest on a loan at a rate that is higher than that of a moneylender, does it not make the bank a licensed Ah Long?
When banks charge a compound interest on loans, when licensed moneylenders do not, does it not make them licensed Ah Longs? Banks and Ah Longs, what is the difference? The truth is that often consumers find it hard to tell whether they are dealing with banks or Ah Longs. Both are in the business of making profits by lending out money and both can be ruthless in their own ways.

Bank Loan More Expensive than Moneylender’s

Consumers cannot take for granted that the loan from the bank will always be cheaper than that of moneylenders.

Under Section 17A of the Moneylenders Act 1951, moneylenders can charge interest of up to 12% per annum for secured loans and up to 18% per annum for unsecured loans. To charge anything higher would be breaking the law.

For banks, it is a different story. There is no limit on the interest that they can charge on loans. Most of the time their interest is lower than that of moneylenders.

We have come across a case where the interest charged for a personal loan taken from a bank is very much higher than that can be legally charged by a licensed moneylender. Yet, unlike moneylenders, the bank is not breaking any law.

CIMB Xpress
The CIMB Xpress is an Islamic personal loan which many may find appealing. (Islamic loans are open to non-Muslims as well). According to its brochure, the requirements for the loan are minimum and the rates are affordable. No guarantor is required for a loan that is less than RM5,000 and the applicant only needs to have a monthly salary of RM800 to apply. The applicant can apply for a loan that is 5 times his salary and the loan can be approved within 24 hours.

For a loan of RM3,000 for 5 years, the repayment works out to be RM3.62 per day. This does not seem much but the rate of profit (equivalent to the interest charged on a conventional loan) on the loan is high, at 2% per month or 24% per annum.

In a year, the borrower would have paid RM1,320 and at the end of 5 years he would have paid RM6,600.

ABC Moneylender
If the RM3,000 loan were to be taken from a moneylender, the interest charged is 18% as it is an unsecured loan.

This is cheaper than CIMB Xpress’ 24% rate of profit.

For a loan taken from ABC moneylender, the total interest charged on a loan of RM3, 000 for 60 months is RM2, 700. The monthly instalment works out to be RM95 per month or RM3.12 per day.

At the end of the 5 years the borrower with the loan from ABC Moneylender saves RM900.

Now who says it is always cheaper to take a loan from a bank than a moneylender?

Is it ethical for banks to charge interest that is higher than that of moneylenders?

Double Standards on Compound Interest?

There are 2 ways to calculate interest for loans — simple interest or compound interest.

Simple interest is interest which is calculated only on the principal amount. Compound interest is where interest is calculated on the principal plus interest incurred in the previous periods.

When compound interest is applied, the debt will grow faster than under simple interest.

For example, if the penalty interest on late payment is RM100 and the balance outstanding is RM10,000, compounding allows the bank to charge interest on the total of RM10,100. If simple interest is being used, the bank will only be allowed to calculate interest on the outstanding balance of RM10,000.

Section 17 of the Moneylenders Act 1951 prohibits directly or indirectly, the use of compound interest by moneylenders.

However, banks do not face such restrictions on compound interest. By charging compound interest they are effectively charging interest upon interest and that is why the debt increases tremendously.

Anyone who has defaulted on his housing loan or credit card payment will understand how fast debt accumulates because interest is being compounded.

Compounding interest increases the debt much faster and thus allows the banks to make even more money.

Why should the banks be allowed to compound interest when moneylenders are not allowed to do so?

What does Bank Negara have to say?

Read the Moneylenders Act in Utusan Konsumer July-August 2008.

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Komen: Aqad yang sesuai digunakan selepas ini: Aku terima syaratnya untuk membayar riba bulanan kepada institusi perbankan Islami Ah Long yang berdaftar ini. Sah!

Pelampau Punca Permusuhan dan Kebencian

Md. Asham B. Ahmad,
Fellow Institut Kefahaman Islam Malaysia

Islam adalah agama akhlak, dan akhlak Islam pula bertunjangkan keadilan. Tanpa keadilan masakan wujud kasih sayang, penghormatan dan kesetiaan, yang semuanya merupakan asas-asas sebenar kepada keamanan dan keharmonian.
Terasa segan sebenarnya mahu berbicara tentang perkara ini takut ditempelak kita beromong kosong. Bagaimana kita mahu berbicara tentang keadilan dan keamanan sedangkan kedua-duanya tiada kelihatan nyata pada diri peribadi dan masyarakat Islam hari ini untuk diambil contoh dan tauladan? Orang akan berkata: lihat sahajalah dunia Islam dan masyarakatnya, saling bermusuhan dan bercakaran sesama sendiri tanpa kunjung padam, sehingga membantutkan segala usaha pembangunan mereka.

Pada pandangan orang luar, Islam dan perlakuan Kaum Muslimin adalah satu, tiada beza antara keduanya. Apa yang dilakukan oleh Kaum Muslimin dianggap cerminan ajaran Islam. Baik kelakuan mereka baiklah Islam, buruk kelakuan mereka buruklah Islam.

Justeru, Kaum Muslimin perlu menginsafi peranan serta amanah yang mereka pikul dalam soal mencerminkan Islam dengan sebenar-benarnya. Jangan sampai Islam pula dipersalahkan dan dimusuhi kerana kelalaian dan kekurangan kita dalam memahami dan mengamalkannya.

Al-Qur’an berulang-kali mengingatkan Kaum Muslimin supaya menjaga batas dan tidak melampauinya. Apa yang menarik ialah dalam bahasa Arab larangan melampaui batas (la ta’tadu), permusuhan (’udwah/’adawah), dan musuh (’aduww) semuanya berpunca dari akar kata yang sama. Ia menunjukkan bahawa ada kaitan antara semua itu. Sebarang permusuhan bermula apabila satu pihak melanggar batas-batas tertentu yang mengancam, menjejas, atau menafikan terus hak pihak yang lain.

Sehubungan dengan itu, peristiwa yang membawa kepada penurunan ayat 110 Surah al-Isra’ amat sesuai untuk dijadikan bahan renungan. Menjadi kebiasaan Rasulullah membaca dengan kuat apabila bersembahyang dengan para sahabat baginda. Perbuatan itu bagaimanapun tidak disenangi oleh masyarakat bukan Islam sehingga sebahagian mereka mencerca al-Qur’an, dan Tuhan yang menurunkannya. Lalu ayat di atas diturunkan: “…dan janganlah membaca terlalu kuat dalam sembahyangmu dan janganlah pula terlalu perlahan; carilah jalan tengah antara keduanya.”

Teguran yang terkandung dalam ayat ini mencerminkan sifat agama Islam itu sendiri yang tegas mempertahankan hak-hak sesiapa sahaja termasuk orang-orang bukan Islam. Walau dalam mengerjakan ibadat kepada Allah sekalipun hak-hak itu tidak boleh diabaikan.

Perbuatan membaca al-Qur’an dengan kuat adalah pencerobohan terhadap hak orang bukan Islam yang mungkin terganggu dengan perbuatan itu. Ia juga memberikan akibat sampingan yang tidak baik apabila al-Qur’an dan Allah sendiri akhirnya menjadi bahan cercaan.

Nampaknya banyak pihak khususnya pada hari ini terlepas pandang terhadap teguran ini dan pengajaran yang sepatutnya diambil darinya.

Sayugia diingatkan, teguran al-Qur’an itu dibuat pada zaman sebelum wujudnya pembesar suara, dan teguran itu ditujukan pada bacaan dalam sembahyang. Kini masjid-masjid dan surau-surau dilengkapi dengan sistem pembesar suara yang membolehkan setiap patah perkataan yang dituturkan dalam masjid didengar berbatu jauhnya. Timbul persoalan dan penyakit baru apabila rakaman bacaan al-Qur’an dimainkan melalui pembesar suara masjid dan surau. Apakah sebenarnya niat dan tujuan perbuatan ini? Tidakkah sepatutnya difahami dari ayat yang dipetik di atas dan peristiwa yang membawa kepada penurunannya bahawa sekiranya bacaan kuat dalam sembahyang pun ditegur dan dilarang inikan pula bacaan di luar sembahyang? Tambah pula ianya dimainkan dari rakaman kaset atau CD melalui corong pembesar suara?

Kalau sekiranya mahu diambil fadilat dan pahala dari bacaan al-Qur’an kenapa tidak dibaca sendiri? Kalau orang berkenaan mahu mendengar bacaan al-Qur’an dari rakaman kenapa pula perlu dimainkan melalui pembesar suara? Tidak cukupkah dimainkan rakaman itu untuk pendengaran sendiri? Kenapa mahu ‘memaksa’ orang lain di persekitaran masjid turut mendengar? Tidakkah terlintas di fikirannya apa perasaan orang-orang bukan Islam apabila ‘dipaksa’ menadah telinga saban hari mendengar sesuatu yang tidak mereka sukai?

Inilah jadinya apabila masjid dan surau dikuasai dan diuruskan oleh orang-orang yang bebal dan angkuh. Bebal kerana mereka menyangka mereka melakukan kebaikan sedangkan hakikatnya ialah kerosakan. Angkuh kerana mereka pantang ditegur. Yang pertama bersifat epistemologikal dan berpunca dari kerosakan ilmu manakala yang kedua bersifat akhlakiah dan ia adalah natijah dari yang pertama.

Kita mesti mendedahkan perbuatan melampau batas kerana ia mendatangkan fitnah kepada agama Islam yang maha suci. Rasulullah pernah memarahi seorang sahabat yang membaca surah yang panjang ketika mengimamkan sembahyang kerana perbuatan itu dikhuatiri mendatangkan fitnah terhadap agama. Jangan kita fikir perbuatan melampau itu terhad kepada perbuatan bersifat militan semata-mata. Perbuatan yang bersifat militan boleh menyebabkan kehilangan nyawa dan kerosakan harta benda. Perbuatan melampau dalam kehidupan dan amalan beragama boleh menghilangkan rasa hormat dan kagum kepada agama.

Pokok pangkal persoalan ini ialah kerosakan ilmu dan amal. Amalan yang salah, menyeleweng, dan melampau berpunca dari kefahaman yang salah, menyeleweng, dan melampau. Amalan yang betul zahir dan batin tidak boleh tidak mesti berpunca dari ilmu dan kefahaman yang benar terhadap zahir dan batin agama.

Kita nyatakan ‘zahir’ dan ‘batin’ kerana keelokan dan kesempurnaan penghayatan agama bergantung kepada keseimbangan kedua-dua unsur ini. Perbuatan melampau berlaku apabila unsur zahir diberatkan dan unsur batin dikesampingkan, ataupun sebaliknya. Fiqh (kefahaman) yang sebenar merujuk kepada kefahaman terhadap agama secara keseluruhan, merangkumi yang zahir dan batin, usul dan furu’nya, dan natijah daripada kefahaman ini ialah kebaikan (khayr). Itulah yang dinyatakan oleh Rasulullah: “Barangsiapa yang Allah kehendaki baginya kebaikan, Dia memberikannya kefahaman dalam agama”.

Perbuatan yang kononnya bersifat keagamaan tetapi mendatangkan keluh-kesah, fitnah, kesusahan, dan kebencian masyarakat pastinya bukan datang dari kefahaman sebenar terhadap agama kerana tiada kelihatan kebaikannya (maslahah) sebagai natijahnya. Yang kelihatan sebaliknya ialah kerosakan (mafsadah).

Apabila institusi-institusi agama dipimpin oleh orang-orang yang tiada kelayakan memimpin, yang kefahaman dan kelakuannya masih pada tahap kedusunan, kesucian dan keindahan agama Islam akan tercemar. Pasti tidak akan kelihatan sifat kesejagatan risalah Islam itu ditampilkan. Mereka adalah ibarat cermin-cermin yang kotor dan berdebu. Mereka tidak boleh diharapkan bagi menayangkan rupa sebenar agama Islam.

© 1992 - 2010 INSTITUT KEFAHAMAN ISLAM MALAYSIA (IKIM)

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Terdapat beberapa bantahan di kalangan ‘wang fiatist’, ‘Banker’ ‘Islamizer of Banking System’ tentang penggunaan emas dan perak sebagai mata wang yang sah. Saya akan mengemukakan jawapan-jawapan kepada bantahan-bantahan mereka ini. Bantahan mereka ini merupakan satu usaha di pihak mereka untuk menghalang penduduk dunia menikmati kebebasan penggunaan wang yang sebenar. Mereka memberi pelbagai alasan yang bersifat teknikal dan penggunaan istilah-istilah akademik yang sukar difahami oleh masyarakat awam. Semuanya digunakan sebagai ‘smoke screen’ untuk mengaburi penglihatan orang awam. Sekiranya masyarakat awam membantah mekanisme perbankan konvensional dan perbankan Islam menggunakan logik yang absah sekalipun, bantahan masyarakat awam tersebut akan dibakul sampahkan oleh cendekiawan perbankan konvensional dan perbankan Islam ini.

Saya sendiri telah membaca ulasan-ulasan pembaca terhadap penulisan artikel seorang cendekiawan perbankan Islam yang tersohor. Sesetengah komentar-komentar pembaca telah dibalas dengan respons yang berbentuk dogmatik dan autoritatif dan sekadar untuk mengekalkan status quo sebagai cendekiawan perbankan Islam dan cendekiawan-cendekiawan perbankan Islam yang lain. Walau pun beliau menganggap bahawa sistem perbankan dan kewangan Islam sekarang tidak bersifat taqwa sepenuhnya, tetapi beliau sering menyangkal pendapat beliau sendiri dengan masih mewartakan bahawa perbankan Islam merupakan alternatif terbaik kepada perbankan konvensional. Ini merupakan satu kekeliruan yang besar dan mengelirukan orang ramai.

Sepatutnya apa yang perlu beliau lakukan ialah mengisytiharkan bahawa perbankan konvensional dan perbankan Islam kedua-duanya adalah dua buah sistem yang tidak berasaskan sifat taqwa dan iman kepada Allah, tetapi sesuatu yang haram, dan lebih daripada itu merupakan riba. Sila rujuk tulisan ‘Umar Vadillo: Fatwa on Banking, Fatwa on Paper Money dan The Fallacy of ‘Islamic Bank’ pada bahagian rangkaian web sebelah kanan blog ini di bawah kategori ‘Monetary System’. Silat rujuk juga buku beliau ‘The Return of The Islamic Gold Dinar’ dan The End of Economics : An Islamic Critique of Economics’. Sila rujuk juga buku tulisan Shaykh Imran Nazar Hosein yang bertajuk ‘The Prohibition of Riba in the Qur’an and Sunnah‘. Saya ingin meminta maaf sekiranya kedua-dua tokoh ini tidak diguna pakai oleh sesetengah cendekiawan perbankan Islam yang menganggap mereka sebagai ‘imran hussain, umar vadillo dan entah siapa-siapa’.

Berikut merupakan bantahan-bantahan berserta jawapan-jawapannya seperti yang dikemukakan oleh Dr. ‘Umar Vadillo di dalam bukunya ‘The Return of The Islamic Gold Dinar’.

Bantahan pertama: Bekalan emas tidak mencukupi.
Jawapan: Bantahan ini dikemukakan kerana salah faham tentang harga emas. Ini berdasarkan anggapan bahawa nisbah pertukaran emas dan wang kertas digunakan apabila emas menjadi medium pertukaran. Ini adalah salah faham yang amat nyata. Kenyataannya ialah, kadar harga barangan yang lebih rendah akan mengelakkan penggunaan mata wang emas dalam kuantiti yang besar. Seseorang boleh membeli pakaian yang berharga 400 unit wang kertas yang bersamaan dengan 20 keping wang emas pada nisbah pertukaran yang berbeza.

Bantahan kedua: Emas terdedah kepada pengaruh spekulatif yang tidak diingini.
Jawapan: Pada sekitar tahun 70an, emas digunakan sebagai lindung nilai untuk menghadapi inflasi. Kenaikan harga emas daripada $35 kepada $850 auns adalah akibat daripada kebimbangan terhadap nilai wang kertas dan perkembangan krisis antarabangsa. Mereka yang menentang penggunaan emas sebagai mata wang telah keliru tentang sebab dan akibat. Spekulasi yang sebenar adalah kerana provokasi sistem mata wang yang tidak boleh ditunaikan kepada nilai yang sebenar dan mereka yang mahu melindungi diri mereka di sebalik sistem mata wang palsu ini.

Bantahan ketiga: Emas akan menghasilkan ketidakstabilan harga di pasaran.
Jawapan: Sekiranya kita membandingkan harga emas di Amerika Syarikat pada tahun 1833 hingga 1933, iaitu sebelum pemansuhan piawai harga emas dalam negeri, indeks harga komoditi barang-barang borong hanya meningkat sebanyak 0.9 % sahaja sepanjang jangka masa 100 tahun! Akan tetapi sejak Presiden Nixon mengisytiharkan kemuflisan antarabangsa dan wang kertas dolar tidak boleh ditukar dengan emas; indeks tersebut telah meningkat kepada 350% pada 1971. Pada 20 tahun kebelakangan, indeks ini telah meningkat sekitar 400%.

Ini menunjukkan bahawa emas adalah stabil dan sesuai digunakan sebagai mata wang, dan sejarah telah menunjukkan bahawa wang kertas adalah tidak pernah sesuai untuk digunakan sebagai mata wang.

Penggunaan wang kertas adalah riba kerana nilainya susut melalui suatu jangka waktu. Maka penggunaan mata wang kertas oleh perbankan Islam adalah berasaskan sistem riba. Perkara ini perlu jelas sebelum alasan-alasan apologetik diterima sebagai candu untuk menutup kebobrokan sistem kewangan sekarang. Isu seperti bagaimana untuk menarik diri daripada kerjaya perbankan konvensional dan perbankan Islam sedangkan mempunyai ramai tanggungan harus diletakkan sebagai persoalan kedua. Persoalan pertama adalah menjaga hak Allah dan hak manusia yang telah diperas keringat mereka. Saya pernah berbual dengan seorang ketua pegawai eksekutif syarikat perisian pendidikan Islam yang menyatakan bahawa beliau mempunyai seorang rakan yang telah hidup mewah dengan memperoleh sumber pendapatan yang berasaskan riba. Setelah membaca buku Imran Nazar Hosein yang bertajuk ‘The Prohibition of Riba in the Qur’an and Sunnah’, beliau telah menarik diri daripada kerja semasa beliau dan menjual hartanya dan berhijrah ke Yaman di mana beliau boleh hidup secara sederhana untuk memelihara imannya. Inilah dia antara contoh hijrah yang sebenar. Dan pengertian hijrah tidak boleh dihayati dengan sekadar mengadakan upacara keagamaan nasional yang gilang-gemilang yang diselangi dengan bacaan doa oleh pegawai tinggi agama yang bertaraf ‘JUSA’. Dan inilah contoh keimanan yang sebenar di mana tidak ada yang lain yang berhak diberikan kepatuhan melebihi ibu bapa, suami, isteri dan anak-anak. Allah berfirman: “Harta dan anak-anak adalah perhiasan kehidupan dunia tetapi amalan-amalan yang kekal lagi salih adalah lebih baik pahalanya di sisi Tuhanmu serta lebih baik untuk menjadi harapan” (Surah al-Kahf: 46)

Apabila saya berbual dengan rakan saya tentang kebobrokan perbankan Islam, beliau telah menjawab bahawa mereka (Shariah Advisory Council, SAC?) lebih mengetahui daripada kita. Dan menurutnya lagi, sekiranya segala kebobrokan ini adalah suatu yang nyata, maka segala dosa akan ditanggung oleh mereka. Inilah pandangan yang dipaksa ke atas orang awam untuk diterima. Sekiranya ini berlaku, maka sama-samalah kita bersedia untuk memohon kepada Allah di akhirat kelak: “Ya Tuhan kami, mereka telah menyesatkan kami, sebab itu datangkanlah kepada mereka seksaan yang berlipat ganda dari neraka.” Allah berfirman: “Masing-masing mendapat (seksaan) yang berlipat ganda, akan tetapi kamu tidak mengetahui.” (Surah Al-A’raf: 38)

Saya ingin mengajak orang Islam yang membaca tulisan ini, yang merasakan di dalam hati mereka keperitan kerana telah melanggar perintah Allah dan Sunnah RasulNya untuk menjauhi riba agar bangkit menentang riba ini tidak kiralah ianya riba secara konvensional atau riba melalui jalan belakang. Ini kerana Allah telah mengisytiharkan perang ke atas amalan riba: “Maka jika kamu tidak mengerjakan (meninggalkan sisa riba), maka ketahuilah, bahawa Allah dan RasulNya akan memerangimu. Dan jika kamu bertaubat (dari pengambilan riba), maka bagimu pokok hartamu; kamu tidak menganiaya dan tidak (pula) dianiaya“. (Surah Al-Baqarah: 279).

Sekiranya Allah dan RasulNya mengisytiharkan perang, maka kita perlu turut serta dalam perang tersebut. Tidak sepatutnya kita duduk sahaja dan cuba untuk mengetepikan hal ini dan lari daripada kenyataan dengan menyembunyikan diri menonton televisyen, mahupun pergi ke majlis-majlis agama untuk menutup perasaan bersalah bahawa kita telah khianat kepada Allah dan RasulNya. Mekanisme pertahanan diri yang bersifat apologetik ini untuk lari daripada kenyataan dan mencari tempat perlindungan bersama keluarga tercinta setelah berlaku khianat kepada Allah tidak boleh menyelamatkan kita daripada seksaan api neraka. Ini adalah seumpama lari dari medan perang. Jika kita terlibat dengan riba, maka berlaku jujurlah bahawa kita telah khianat kepada Allah dan RasulNya. Dan sekiranya kita masih kekal dalam riba, maka kita perlu bersedia untuk menerima seksaan api neraka yang pedih di akhirat kelak. Ini adalah kenyataan yang harus diterima. Dan Allah berkuasa untuk menghukum manusia termasuk diri saya.

Saya telah terbaca sebuah artikel yang ditulis secara tuntas dan ilmiah tentang kaitan perbankan Islam dan Sunnah Nabi dan para sahabat. Penulis artikel tersebut merupakan seoarang bekas pemimpin sebuah Gerakan Harakiyyah Islamiyyah dan sekarang merupakan seorang cendekiawan perbankan Islam yang tersohor di peringkat tempatan mahupun antarabangsa. Saya tertarik dengan respon yang diberikan oleh seorang pembaca:

Salam,

Minta maaf. Ust menerangkan ttg kewujudan bank itu seolah-olah keadaan pada masa itu serupa dgn bank pada hari ini.

Kewujudan bank pada hari ini mungkin 99% berbeza dgn apa yg ustaz ceritakan di atas. Pada zaman yang diceritakan di atas, tidak lagi wujud wang kertas seperti yg diamalkan pd hari ini.

Saya percaya ustaz pun maklum tentang bagaimana fractional reserve yang diamalkan di bank2 ketika ini termasuk perbankan Islam seperti yang ustaz pernah tulis di dalam salah sebuah majalah tempatan pd tahun lepas.

Isu sebenar tentang fungsi bank yang memanipulasi dan menipudaya orang ramai sgt jarang diperdebatkan. Sedangkan di negara2 Barat, telah banyak wujud gerakan2 yang mendedahkan kebobrokan bank-bank ini. Hatta masalah yang kononnya dikaitakan dgn sub-prime crisis di USA sebagai punca masalah kemelesatan ekonomi dunia ketika ini, hanyalah alasan untuk menutup punca masalah sebenar yg lebih besar, iaitu sistem kredit itu sendiri, yang diamalkan oleh semua bank-bank, termasuk bank Islam.

Saya pun tak ingin berbicara lanjut sbb ustaz dan ramai di sini hebat2 belaka. Cuma saya sedikit terkilan kerana perumpamaan2 yang diberikan seolah-olah menjustifikasikan kewujudan2 bank yang ada pd hari ini. Kita tahu siapakah di belakang bank-bank ini, dan ironinya, mereka juga menyokong “perbankan Islam”. Kita pula sbg umat Islam berbangga bahawa mereka mengiktiraf sistem “perbankan Islam”. Itulah sebenarnya yg mereka mahukan. Tidak kisah nama atau istilah apa pun yg kita gunapakai, selagi kita menjadi hamba kepada sistem kredit sedia ada, mereka tidak akan peduli.

Hmmm, movie baru-baru ni “The International” pun mungkin elok juga utk ditonton … ada cerita sikit2 ttg jenayah bank2 ni..

Until then insha-allah.

Penulis artikel tersebut memberi jawapan yang agak tuntas dan dinamik:

SUSAH nak terang kepada awam yang tiada basic usul fiqh, dan kaeadh fiqh ni..lain kali la ye..berikan kepercayaan kepad aulama sednuia, mereka semua dah bincang benda ni dan semua dah bertulis, sdr saja yang belum jumpa tulisan mereka dan tak baca.

ambil masa dan kaji dulu, then bertanya..dari soalan saya boleh agak, apa ilmu yang sdr ada dan yang belum ada..inshaAllah moga dipermudah.

Walau bagamanapun, pembaca artikel tersebut telah membalas kembali jawapan penulis artikel tersebut dengan jawapan yang lebih tuntas dan dinamik:

Salam,

Walaupun saya bukan “pakar” dlm bidang yg ustaz katakan, saya juga bukanlah seorg yg terlalu jahil mengenai ekonomi dan kewangan.

Sbb itu komen saya tidak menjurus kepada persoalan hukum hakam di dalam menjustifikasikan produk-produk yg dikeluarkan oleh perbankan Islam.

Saya secara peribadi melihat kebanyakan produk-produk yg dikeluarkan oleh perbankan Islam ini dgn restu dari majlis syariah masing2 kurang memberi penekanan pada kesan jangka panjang pada ekonomi umat Islam secara keseluruhan.

Spt yg selalu diperkatakan oleh org ramai, mereka tidak nampak byk perbezaan perbankan Islam dan perbankan konvensional melainkan nama yg diubah dengan nama yg nampak Islamik, sehingga kpd kontrak-kontrak di bank-bank dan di bursa yang dilihat seolah-olah agama dijadikan senda gurau utk menampakkan ianya Islamik sedangkan tujuannya tidak pun nampak berbeza dgn perbankan konvensional.

Itu hanyalah cebisan dari cerita-cerita yg biasa dihadapi oleh kebanyakan kita. Sebab itu saya tekankan tentang kewujudan bank-bank yg ada pd hari ini, apakah kesannya kpd umat? Bukannya berbalah tentang hukum bagi setiap operasi yang cuba kita tiru dari amalan sedia ada.

Apa pula kesannya pd umat apabila syarikat2 besar yg diberikan high gearing untuk mendapat kredit?? Dengan interest yg dibayar oleh mereka, dan lebih teruk lagi apabila mereka gagal melunaskan pinjaman, apa kesannya pada wang di dalam poket saya pd hari ini dan hari2 mendatang… adakah Islam tiba2 melupakan konsep keadilan disebabkan perbankan Islam mesti diberi tempat??

Keadilan dan kebebasan untuk bermuamalat adalah hak saya selaku seorg Muslim. Tidaklah diwajibkan utk saya menjadi seorg pakar atau mempunyai ijazah atau PhD dlm usul fiqh utk melayakkan saya menikmati keadilan yang telahpun diperuntukkan utk saya oleh Islam.

Maka sekarang, apakah kapasiti saya Malakian untuk membincangkan hal ini yang merupakan seorang yang tidak ‘pakar’ dan tidak takhassus dalam bidang Perbankan Islam? Kapasiti saya tiada lain kerana saya merupakan seorang Muslim yang tidak sanggup untuk melihat saudari Islam saya di Indonesia terpaksa bekerja di Singapura sebagai orang gaji di rumah seorang yang bukan Muslim. Wanita Indonesia itu terpaksa meninggalkan suami dan anak-anaknya di kampung untuk bekerja di Singapura. Walapun majikannya memberi gaji yang amat sedikit dalam matawang Singapura, tetapi beliau masih boleh menghantar sedikit wang tersebut ke kampungnya kerana nilai matawang Singapura lebih tinggi. Walau bagaimanapun, hampir setiap hari, saudari saya dari Indonesia itu terpaksa memasak makanan yang berasaskan daging khinzir. Mungkin di antara anda dapat membantu saya; adakah saudari Islam saya itu harus menyamak tangannya setiap hari kerana menyentuh khinzir atau saudari saya itu berada dalam keadaan darurat sebagaimana pendapat sesetengah cendekiawan perbankan Islam bahawa penggunaan wang kertas tidak dielakkan kerana berada dalam Dddharurah?

Indonesian maids in S’pore prone to human rights violations

Jakarta Post
June 28, 2004
Fadli, Batam, Riau

THERE are some 55,000 Indonesian maids in Singapore, many of whom enjoy pleasant working environment. However, the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore says it receives dozens of reports daily from maids who claim they have been the victims of abuse.

According to Fachry Sulaiman, the head of protocol and consular at the embassy, Indonesian maids consult the embassy mostly on legal issues.

Currently, 40 migrant workers, who claim to have suffered abuse at the hands of their employers, are living at the embassy at the “Temporary Shelter for Indonesian Maids Working in Singapore.”

Some claim they were physically or sexually abused, others simply state that they were not paid for their work. “Most of them reported their cases to the Singapore police. The cases are being investigated, while the maids wait to see what happens next. Most prefer to stay here pending an investigation, rather than return home to Indonesia,” said Fachry.

Nawang, 23, a maid from Kendal in Central Java, said she had worked in Singapore for two years, but never received her salary.

She used to live at her employer’s house in Bukit Timah, but is now staying at the embassy.

With a wage of S$250 per month, Nawang estimates that she is owed S$6,000 by her employer.

“I reported my situation to the police, but my passport is still being kept by my employer. I beg the Indonesian government to help me solve this problem,” she said.

Sari, a maid from Surakarta in Central Java, said her employer abused her daily.

The 40 migrant workers at the embassy shelter have been living there for one year.

Fachry said the embassy paid all their expenses, including three meals a day.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore Mochamad Slamet Hidayat, said that many employees were also the victims of workplace accidents. He said dozens of Indonesian maids died from 1999 to May 2004 after falling from high-rise apartments in Singapore. Most fell while hanging out clothes to dry or washing the windows.

The Indonesian government has asked the Singapore government to improve the conditions of domestic workers there.

Sumber: http://www.singapore-window.org/sw04/040628jp.htm

Sampai bilakah kita harus menerima alasan Dddharurah ini? Oleh kerana menurut penulis artikel di atas bahawa kita memerlukan ilmu usul fiqh untuk memahami perkara ini, maka saya ingin merujuk kepada sebuah kertas kerja yang bertajuk: Beberapa Isu Fiqh Ke Arah Pelaksanaan Dinar Emas yang dibentangkan oleh Hj. Jaafar Ahmad dari Fakulti Ekonomi UKM dan Prof. Madya Dr. Hailani Muji Tahir dari Jabatan Syariah, Fakulti Pengajian Islam, UKM. Sudah tentu kedua-dua pembentang kertas kerja ini mahir dalam bidang fiqh dan usul fiqh.

Para pembentang kertas ini bersetuju bahawa penggunaan wang fiat memberi kesan buruk apatah lagi dalam fenomena di mana negara maju contohnya Amerika melalui IMF telah memberi pinjaman kepada dunia ketiga dan negara-negara membangun ini untuk membantu mereka menghadapi krisis ekonomi. Menurut para pembentang, hutang-hutang negara-negara membangun telah sentiasa meningkat dan pemberi pinjaman utama ialah bank-bank swasta yang terdapat di negara-negara maju. Beban hutang tersebut semakin meningkat untuk ditanggung terutamanya apabila pinjaman itu terpaksa dibayar dengan faedah berserta dengan jumlah prinsipal yang dipinjam.

Keadaan ini menyebabkan pendapatan dari negara-negara membangun telah mengalir kepada negara-negara kaya khususnya kepada bank-bank swasta. Dan lebih menakjubkan lagi, negara-negara peminjam perlu membayar kembali pinjaman tersebut dalam bentuk mata wang negara pemberi pinjam. Bagaimana untuk mendapat mata wang negara pemberi pinjam tersebut? Caranya tidak lain bahawa negara peminjam perlu mengeksport barang keluaran masing-masing untuk dijual kepada negara-negara pemberi pinjam dengan harga ‘istimewa’. Maka hasil-masul negara peminjam termasuk hasil semula jadi mereka terpaksa dikikis.

Apakah kos yang terpaksa dikeluarkan oleh negara pemberi pinjam? Ya, hanya kos mencetak duit kertas. Inilah mekanisme IMF dan Bank Dunia menghakis peluh keringat orang awam dan hasil-masul semula jadi negara-negara peminjam. Dan inilah juga cara bank-bank swasta dan Bank Islam yang berstatus ‘sacred Islamic financial institution’ di seluruh dunia memerah keringat orang ramai. Tetapi perkara ini perlu disapu ke bawah permaidani terlebih dahulu dan segala isu-isu ‘gush’ ‘gush’ yang lain menjadi ‘screen smoke’ untuk melihat isu yang sebenar. Ya, seperti dalam permainan komputer Counter-Strike, Smoke Grenade digunakan untuk mengaburi penglihatan pihak lawan dan melakukan serangan ketika pihak lawan berada dalam keadaan kelam kabut.

Kita ambil pula pendapat Taqi Usmani, salah seorang pemikir utama ke arah pembentukan perbankan Islam. Beliau berkata ketika membincangkan isu Murabahah dalam perbankan Islam:

“Originally, Murabahah is a particular type of sale and not a mode of financing. The ideal mode of financing according to Shari’ah is mudarabah or musharakah which have been discussed in the first chapter. However, in the perspective of the current economic set up, there are certain practical difficulties in using mudarabah and musharakah instruments in
some areas of financing. Therefore, the contemporary Shari’ah experts have allowed, subject to certain conditions, the use of
the Murabahah on deferred payment basis as a mode of financing. But there are two essential points which must be fully
understood in this respect:

1. It should never be overlooked that, originally, Murabahah is not a mode of financing. It is only a device to escape from
“interest” and not an ideal instrument for carrying out the real economic objectives of Islam. Therefore, this instrument should
be used as a transitory step taken in the process of the Islamization of the economy, and its use should be restricted
only to those cases where mudarabah or musharakah are not practicable.

Sumber: http://www.khutbaat.com/books/islamicfinance/murabahah.shtml

Jelas menurut beliau, Murabahah yang diamalkan sekarang sepatutnya hanya dipraktikkan bagi suatu jangka waktu sahaja. Akan tetapi ia masih diamalkan secara meluas dan orang ramai terpaksa menerimanya seadanya tanpa banyak soal.

Tarek El Diwany dalam sebuah artikel yang diterbitkan di dalam jurnal Banker Middle East telah memberi pandangan yang sungguh pedas kepada perbankan Islam. El Diwany merupakan penulis buku ‘The Problem of Interest’. Beliau merupakan editor laman web www.islamic-finance.com. Beliau menulis:

The contractum trinius was a legal trick used by European merchants in the Middle Ages to allow borrowing at usury, something that the Church fiercely opposed. It was a combination of three separate contracts, each of which was deemed permissible by the Church, but which together yielded a fixed rate of return from the outset. For example, Person A might invest £100 in Person B for one year. A would then sell back to B the right to any profit over and above say £30, for a fee of £15 to be paid by B. Finally, A would insure himself against any loss of wealth by means of a third contract agreed with B at a cost to A of £5. The result of these three simultaneously agreed contracts was an interest payment of £10 on a loan of £100 made by A to B.

I had read about the contractum trinius some months before first encountering the full documentation behind an Islamic banking murabahah contract. It was the kind of contract that Person A might use in order to finance the purchase of good X from Person B. The bank would intermediate in the transaction by asking A to promise to buy good X from the bank in the event that the bank bought good X from B. With the promise made, the bank knows that if it buys good X from B it can then sell it on to A immediately. The bank would agree that A could pay for good X three months after the bank had delivered it. In return, A would agree to pay the bank a few percent more for good X than the bank had paid to B. The net effect is a fixed rate of financial return for the bank, contractually enforceable from the moment that the bank buys good X from B. Money now for more money later, with good X in between.

The above set of legal devices is nothing other than a trick to circumvent riba, a modern day Islamic contractum trinius. The fact that the text of these contracts is so difficult to come by is one shameful fact of Islamic banking. If so clean, why so secretive? The following is an excerpt from a murabahah contract that was used frequently by two major institutions during the 1990’s. The ‘Beneficiary’ is the client that needs finance, and earlier clauses require that the Beneficiary acts as the agent of the Bank in taking delivery of the goods.

Beliau menulis lagi:

An Islamic bank is no different. It must partake in the money creation business. And it must therefore fix its financial rate of return at the outset in most of its business. That’s why Islamic banking cannot succeed in being Islamic. At least, not in the way that we understand the terms ‘banking’ and ‘Islamic’ today.

It gets worse. Because the banks create money by agreeing new loans, society must be in constant debt to the banks by an amount approximately equivalent to the total of a nation’s money supply. But when the banks create money, they do not create the money needed to repay the loan plus the interest charge. The loans that the banks make are therefore unrepayable. The unrepayable debt in turn forces society to compete instead of co-operate since the borrowers in aggregate experience a constant shortage of money. Only one thing can save current borrowers, and that is the creation of more money, either by the state or by the banks. This provides sufficient new money with which current borrowers can repay old debts. When the banks and the state don’t create enough new money, we have a recession. If they create too much, then we have inflation. And always we have more debt.

Wherever you live in the ‘developed’ world, look at your country’s monetary statistics. You will see a steady expansion of total debt (private plus public) accompanied by expansion of money supply to a similar degree. More telling is the fact that total debt is in almost all cases showing substantial growth as a proportion of Gross Domestic Product. So despite decades of hard work, using ever more productive technology, the people are more in debt than they have ever been. Net, they own less of the wealth in their possession than they have ever done. Does this make any sense to you? Only when we understand that modern money is manufactured mostly by the banks for the sake of profit, can we understand the modern economy. Then it will all make sense.

Sumber: http://www.islamic-finance.com/item100_f.htm

Adalah menghairankan ketika ramai cendekiawan ekonomi barat; (salah seorang di antara mereka ialah seorang pakar ekonomi wanita yang berani iaitu Judy Shelton dengan bukunya ‘Money Meltdown‘) sedang menganalisa bilakah sistem kewangan dunia yang berasaskan wang fiat dan riba ini akan runtuh, masih terdapat sesetengah pakar perbankan Islam masih membincangkan bagaimana untuk mengembang luaskan perbankan Islam di seluruh negara. Sepatutnya para cendekiawan perbankan Islam perlu memberi input-input yang berguna dalam menerangkan tentang penggunaan mata wang yang sebenar dan stabil untuk digunakan sebagai medium pertukaran di kalangan rakyat. Model Ekonomi Baru yang akan dibentangkan secara menyeluruh pada suku tahun pertama tahun ini adalah merupakan satu pendekatan yang berasaskan kepada innovasi dan kreativiti. Dan seharusnya pakar ekonomi termasuk ulama perbankan Islam perlu memikirkan matawang yang lebih stabil contohnya dinar dan dirham untuk kelangsungan hidup masyarakat. Langkah pengenalan ‘Islamic Dinar’ oleh Tun Mahathir Mohamad dan penghasilan Dinar Emas Kelantan merupakan satu langkah yang baik untuk membuka mata masyarakat, Melayu dan bukan Melayu. Rasulullah s.a.w. berkata bahawa jika kita berpegang kepada kitab Allah dan Sunnah beliau maka kita akan selamat. Akan tetapi kita telah meninggalkan ‘mata wang Sunnah’ dan kita telah menerima akibat yang buruk; keruntuhan ekonomi dan sosial.

Sila rujuk kategori ‘Monetary System’ di blog ini untuk rujukan selanjutnya.

The ultimate result of this deviationist view of Riba is the justification of banking. Their premises are that ‘banking without interest’ is Halal. In fact, although Islamic Banking defines itself as non-interest banking, it actually charges interest, only with a different name. They call it profit, sometimes dividends, sometimes mark-up through various deceptive schemes. But apart from those deceptive methods of hiding interest, the main problem remains that the Islamic Bank IS a bank. Islamic Banks, like all banks, practice ‘fractional reserve banking’. Fractional reserve banking is the essence of fiat money. Through this method they use and create fiat money and consequently they endorse the current system of paper money.

Firstly, in Islam, the person (in our case, the banker) who receives a deposit (wadi’a) from another is not entitled to trade with it. This is considered a transgression of the contract. In the past Muslims dealt with payments directly on their own or through a complex network of wakils, who did not create credit, they only executed the orders of their customers, i.e. to make a payment or receive a payment. Money and credit were not mixed. And the wakils did not use the money in deposit for their own trading.

Secondly, in Islam you cannot use debts as money. In the case of paper money which is not backed by specie (it is no longer a debt, although it used to be), the banker is trading with receipts whose value is due to the legal compulsion of the State. The present paper money is in fact a tax. There is no way of allowing this in Islam. Not only do the Islamic Bankers trade with paper money, they contribute to the creation of more paper money through the creation of deposits. It must be noticed that a bank deposit functions just like money. To illustrate this point of the creation of money, we will give an example. In Canada the figures published by the Bank of Canada explain that by 1998 the ratio of all Canadian bank cash reserves ($3.893 billion) to their total assets ($1393 billion) had jumped to a level of 1:358, a number which is unheard of considering that historically, uring the first 50 years of the 20th century, the ratio never exceeded 1:15. That means for every dollar of cash in their
vaults or deposited with the Bank of Canada, the banks have conjured up $357 from the gap that they have invested or lent out with interest.

This example shows that the banks are actually the main contributors in the money supply of the nation. What fractional reserve banking allows is for the bank to lend more in the form of deposits than what it holds in the form of cash. So what happens if everyone begins to feel nervous about the current system of fractional reserve banking, and growing numbers of people withdraw savings held in a bank? There is not enough cash. A bank run occurs, as witnessed by the tragic events of the Great Depression in the 1930s. For more recent events consider 1985, when numerous regional banks in the north-eastern United States faced bankruptcy due to a run on credit when individuals demanded a call on deposits. We also witnessed a bank run just recently in Argentina, in 2001. The police were called, and customers were refused entry into commercial banks to withdraw savings. Elected officials and governments in various countries have gone so far as to force the closure of banks, toprevent a bank run from happening and causing a chain of events which could become uncontrollable and essentially destroy the current banking system. The solution put in place once a bank has been closed is to use everyone’s tax money through central banking insurance to eliminate the problem until it occurs again. States, by ‘protecting’ banks from bank runs by means of deposit insurance, ultimately compound the problem by fractionating further the central bank reserves on which the banks draw from to begin with.

The current banking industry is regulated in such a manner that a legitimate cartel of money-makers has been created. The State protects this banking cartel from the normal rationale and logic of the contractual law.

Islamic Banks are no exception to this system. They are part of it.

They practice fractional reserve banking which is the basis on which the majority of the money in circulation comes into being. They do not have sufficient cash to back all the money generated. The excess is incorporated into the economy as money supply which contributes to the phenomenon of inflation.

The first idea of Islamic Banking derives from the ideas of ‘Abduh, who equated the bank with Shirkat and Qirad. The principle that kickstarted Islamic Banking was the idea that investment banking – since they do not give loans, they only invest – could be made Halal. They argued that they do not charge interest because they invest their money with other businesses. The only reform required, according to them, in Islamising investment banking was not to pay interest to the account holders. That did not signify a problem but rather another way of making even more profit. So, according to them, investment banking without paying interest to the account holders was Halal.

What the Islamic Bankers cannot avoid are the diseases of banking practice, especially inflation. Since they cannot defend inflation from an Islamic perspective, what they say is that the problem belongs to the government, not the banks. This is not true. The governments regulate inflation, but the main producers of money supply are the banks, including Islamic Banks. When they are finally pressed on the matter they argue in typical fashion by resorting to the concept of darurah.

Naturally, the idea of the Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham (the Shari’ah currency) is abhorrent to bankers, and this shamefully includes Islamic Bankers – because banking cannot operate with a monetary regime of pure gold and silver. They need paper money, whether being part of a gold standard, or even better, with the new fiat money which the State advocates. Islamic Banking is part of banking. It is Haram and its practice is the most deceitful machination against Islam that we have ever had in our history. Islamic Bankers have made the Haram Halal. Their crime is therefore double. Firstly by using the Haram, and
secondly by altering the Islamic Law to justify their practices.
…

The use of maslaha, or public benefit, is another of the tools of Islamisation. Given adequate elaboration, public benefit could be interpreted as anything. It has been argued that the use of paper money is justified for public benefit. Why would you carry heavy gold coins in your pocket if you can use lightweight paper money or an even lighter credit card? Such an argument is used to justify the most ludicrous aspects of the present capitalist society.

-An excerpt from ‘Umar Vadillo’s Fatwa on Banking. Do read other works of ‘Umar Vadillo:
‘The End of economics : an Islamic critique of economics‘ and
‘The return of the gold dinar : a study of money in Islamic law‘. Please refer to the ‘Monetary System’ category in this blog to get the full text and other references. Do watch the video documentaries ‘Money as Debt I and II’ to get a basic picture on monetary system and how banking system works.

Tambahan

Sebahagian dari wang fiat pemerintah yang beredar dalam ekonomi akhirnya mengalir ke dalam institusi bank sama ada sebagai deposit oleh para depositor atau sebagai melunaskan pinjaman oleh para peminjam. Wang fiat pemerintah yang diterima oleh institusi bank boleh disimpan dalam peti wang atau disimpan kembali dalam bank pusat. Namun wang fiat pemerintah itu telah menjadi milik institusi bank dan mereka (wang fiat kerajaan tersebut – malakian) boleh digunakan sebagai rizab atau sandaran untuk mencipta wang fiat bank pula dengan nilai yang jauh lebih besar. Penciptaan wang fiat dari wang fiat ini boleh dinamakan sebagai pyramid berganda dalam penciptaan wang (double pyramid of money creation) (El Diwany, 2002).
…
…Kenaikan harga (akibat daripada inflasi- malakian) telah menggugat fungsi wang sebagai unit pengukur nilai dan piawai pembayaran tertangguh. Fenomena tersebut telah digunakan sebagai hujah untuk mengesahkan keperluan kadar bunga atau bayaran tertangguh yang lebih tinggi dari bayaran tunai untuk sesuatu pembelian. Maka mekanisme penentuan harga pembayaran tertangguh tidak dapat lari dari kadar bunga. Malah isu ini telah menjadi polimik di kalangan cendiakawan Islam mengenai berbagai produk perbankan Islam masa kini (Man, 1991; Ahmad, Z. 1991; Meera, 2002).

Keduanya, keadaan inflasi telah membantu proses agihan pendapatan dan kekayaan yang tidak adil di kalangan penduduk, sektor, daerah dalam sesuatu negara, malah di kalangan berbagai negara dalam dunia. Ini kerana keadaan inflasi dan penciptaan wang fiat oleh institusi bank telah memberi keuntungan pada pihak-pihak tertentu dan merugikan pihak-pihak yang lain. [Lihat: Meera dan Aziz (2002), El Diwany (2002) dan Hifzur Rab (2002)]. Malah ada pihak merumuskan bahawa sebarang usaha, termasuklah mewujudkan wang fiat, yang boleh membawa kepada inflasi (akibat penurunan nilai matawang- malakian) sehingga menyebabkan berbagai bentuk kerosakan adalah haram (Sanusi, 2002). [Ini selari dengan perintah Allah S.W.T. yang telah mencipta manusia, yang sudah tentu juga mencipta mekanisme matawang untuk kegunaan manusia iaitu: “Maka sempurnakanlah takaran dan timbangan dan janganlah kamu kurangkan bagi manusia barang-barang takaran dan timbangannya, dan janganlah kamu membuat kerusakan di muka bumi sesudah Tuhan memperbaikinya. Yang demikian itu lebih baik bagimu jika betul-betul kamu orang-orang yang beriman.” (Al-A’raaf, 7: 85). “Dan Syu’aib berkata: “Hai kaumku, cukupkanlah takaran dan timbangan dengan adil, dan janganlah kamu merugikan manusia terhadap hak-hak mereka dan janganlah kamu membuat kejahatan di muka bumi dengan membuat kerusakan.” (Hud, 11: 85). “Dan janganlah kamu merugikan manusia pada hak-haknya dan janganlah kamu maharajalela di muka bumi dengan membuat kerusakan.” (Al-Syu’ara, 26: 183). – malakian]

…

Dalam kes penciptaan wang fiat bank pula, institusi tersebut lebih banyak mengumpulkan kekayaan berbanding dengan dapat dilakukan oleh pihak pemerintah. Ini kerana kuantiti wang fiat bank (deposit semasa) jauh lebih besar dari wang fiat kerajaan (matawang) yang beredar dalam sesebuah ekonomi. Secara purata wang fiat bank merupakan 80 peratus dan wang fiat kerajaan 20 peratus sahaja dari jumlah wang yang terdapat dalam ekonomi. Komposisi wang yang sedemikian membayangkan kekuatan setipa pihak dalam mengumpulkan harta yang didapati dari orang ramai dengan cara mudah dan senyap.

Perpindahan kekayaan orang ramai kepada pemerintah dengan nilai yang berpatuttan masih boleh diterima dari segi etikanya kerana sebahagian besar dari kekayaan itu mungkin akan digunakan oleh pemerintah untuk kepentingan rakyatnya. Sebaliknya, perpindahan kekayaan dari orang ramai kepada institusi bank yang dimiliki oleh pihak swasta melalui penciptaan wang fiat bank adalah sukar diterima jika berdasarkan kepada hujah etika dan keadilan. Malangnya mplikasi penciptaan wang fiat bank seperti ini amat jarang diketengahkan seolah-olah ia sesuatu yang terpaksa diterima seadanya. Hal inilah yang cuba ditonjolkan oleh Peter Kershaw (1994). Dari perspektif Islam, hal sedemikian adalah bertentangan dengan kehendak ayat al-Qur’an yang bermaksud “Supaya harta itu jangan hanya beredar di antara orang kaya sahaja di antara kamu” (Al-Hasyr: 7). Apatah lagi proses mendapatkan harta kekayaan berkenaan menggunakan kaedah yang licik.

Dipetik daripada kertas kerja “Beberapa Isu Fiqh Ke Arah Pelaksanaan Dinar Emas” yang dibentangkan oleh Hj. Jaafar Ahmad, Fakulti Ekonomi Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia dan Prof. Madya Dr. Hailani Muji Tahir, Jabatan Syariah Fakulti Pengajian Islam, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia di Seminar Kebangsaan Fiqh Dan Cabaran Semasa anjuran Jabatan Syariah Fakulti Pengajian Islam UKM dengan kerjasama Kolej Islam Selangor Darul Ehsan (KISDAR) pada 24-25 September 2003M bersamaan 27-28 Rejab 1424H.

Ini merupakan kesinambungan posting sebelum ini Pemuda Remaja Adalah Pengikut Imam Mahdi. Saya baru jumpa buku ini semalam; Tip-Tip Cemerlang Daripada Quran oleh Dr. Danial Zainal Abidin. Saya membeleknya di kedai buku dan terus terjumpa Bab 29: Cemerlang dengan Membentuk Pelapis. Saya bawakan beberapa petikan dalam buku ini.

Golongan Muda Zaman Nabi Musa

Pada zaman Nabi Musa, golongan muda banyak memainkan peranan membela kebenaran. Dalam surah Yunus ayat 83, Tuhan berfirman, “Tidak beriman kepada Musa melainkan golongan muda dari kaumnya dalam keadaan takut bahawa Firaun dan pemuka-pemuka kaumnya akan menyeksa mereka.”

Berhubung dengan ayat ini, Hamka di dalam Tafsir al-Azhar berkata, “Ayat ini menjelaskan sebab musabab ramai golongan muda dan bukan golongan tua beriman kepada Nabi Musa… Golongan tua sudah berkeluarga dan menanggung banyak tanggungjawab dan kehidupan mereka banyak bergantung pada belas kasihan Firaun, justeru mereka tidak mahu beriman kepada Nabi Musa. Sebaliknya anak cucu mereka dari golongan muda bersedia untuk menerima ajaran baginda.”

Said Hawa di dalam al-Asas fit Tafsir pula berkata, “Kebiasaannya golongan yang mudah menerima seruan untuk melakukan islah atau perbaikan di dalam masyarakat ialah golongan muda. Hal ini disebabkan fitrah mereka masih sejahtera dan jiwa mereka lebih bersedia untuk menerima kebenaran.” …

Golongan Muda pada Zaman Nabi

….
Sahabat-sahabat Nabi yang muda remaja memang ramai. Contohnya sahabat Abdullah bin Abbas. Dilahirkan tiga tahun sebelum hijrah. Semasa nabi wafat, beliau baru berumur tiga belas tahun. Beliau amat mahir dalam bidang tafsir Quran sehingga diberikan gelaran Turjuman al-Quran atau penterjemah Quran.

Sahabat Ali bin Abi Talib adalah remaja yang berilmu tinggi lagi berani. Semasa nabi berhijrah, beliau tidur di tempat tidur nabi dengan tujuan memperdayakan golongan kafir Quraisy. Pada masa itu, beliau berumur lebih kurang Sembilan belas tahun. Pada bulan Safar tahun ke-2 hijrah, semasa berumur dua puluh satu tahun, beliau berkahwin dengan anak nabi iaitu Fatimah az-Zahra.

Sahabat Abdullah bin Omar adalah seorang sahabat yang amat menghalusi sunah nabi. Beliau berhijrah ke Madinah semasa berumur sepuluh tahun.

Semua ini menunjukkan golongan muda memainkan peranan penting ke arah mendaulatkan Islam pada zaman nabi. Perkara ini sewajarnya kita contohi pada hari ini.

Sekian daripada Dr. Danial Zainal Abidin.

Respon saya mudah. Posting ini bukan tentang konflik Kaum Muda-Kaum Tua. Respon saya yang merupakan seorang ‘remaja tua’ yang semakin lanjut usia dan semakin liat kepada adik-adik saya yang muda remaja, yang mempunyai potensi lebih besar daripada saya. Cuba kita sama-sama memikirkan pujian Allah di dalam Surah al-Kahfi kepada segolongan pemuda remaja yang keluar daripada ‘melting pot’ godless society melarikan diri ke dalam gua untuk menjaga iman mereka.

“Kami ceritakan kisah mereka kepadamu dengan sebenar-benarnya. Sesungguhnya mereka itu adalah pemuda-pemuda yang beriman kepada Tuhan mereka dan Kami tambahkan kepada mereka petunjuk.” (Al-Kahfi: 13).

Saya berikan contoh yang mudah kepada remaja-remaja tentang bagaimana mendapat petunjuk. Petunjuk daripada Allah yang mampu memberikan kuasa untuk melihat sesuatu seperti mana sesuatu itu sebagaimana suruhan Allah membaca Surah al-Kahfi setiap hari Jumaat:

Abu Sa’id al-Khudri meriwayatkan daripada Nabi Muhammad s.a.w.: “Sesiapa yang membaca Surah al-Kahfi pada hari Jumaat akan menerima cahaya daripada Jumaat ke Jumaat yang berikutnya.” (Nasa’i, Baihaqi, Hakim).

Dengan cahaya ini juga anda dapat melihat siapakah pengikut Sunnah yang sebenar. Saya berikan contoh yang mudah seperti di bawah.

Saya sering mengatakan golongan muda remaja adalah golongan yang masih bebas merdeka. Bebas daripada belenggu-belenggu status quo dalam diri yang boleh menghalang anda daripada melihat realiti. Dan kebanyakan anda juga bebas daripada riba. Anda mengatakan apa signifikasinya? Saya berikan contoh yang mudah seperti di bawah. Contoh ini boleh saja termasuk diri saya.

Seorang pemuda/pemudi ini merupakan seorang yang komited dalam da’wah. Beliau aktif dalam usrah dan haraki. Dan setelah mendapat ijazah di universiti tempatan, beliau masih mengekalkan semangat keHARAKIannya dengan menyertai pertubuhan Islam yang mengembangkan da’wah dan islah dalam masyarakat. Tiada masalah dalam hal ini. Ini suatu perkara yang baik. Setelah beberapa tahun, beliau telah mempunyai kerjaya dan kewangan yang kukuh. Maka melalui baitul Muslim jamaahnya, beliau telah bertemu pasangan hidup yang ideal yang dapat berkongsi perasaan kasih sayang, suka dan duka dan berkongsi fikrah yang sama. Maka segala persiapan perlu disediakan, rumah dan kereta. Beliau mahukan rumah dan kereta baru yang selesa untuk membina bi’ah solehah. Maka beliau membuat pinjaman di Bank, ya pinjaman berasaskan riba atau backdoor riba.

Anda pula seorang pemuda remaja 17 tahun sekolah kebangsaan yang terpaksa hidup dalam godless society. Anda baru sahaja selesai mengkaji tentang haramnya riba. Anda juga ada semangat untuk melakukan da’wah tapi masih belum kenal lagi apa itu usrah dan haraki. Anda menyampaikan risalah da’wah anda kepada pemuda/pemudi haraki tersebut. Da’wah anda diterima dengan senyuman dan dibalas dengan lembut: “Adik, adik masih muda lagi. Perjalanan hidup adik masih jauh. Untuk hidup di zaman yang mencabar ini, kita harus berpijak di alam nyata, berpijak kepada realiti. Teruskan menuntut ilmu dan adab dalam berda’wah.” Anda terkesima. Sekarang anda akan faham apa yang diperkatakan oleh Hamka di dalam Tafsir al-Azhar dan Said Hawa di dalam al-Asas fit Tafsir seperti yang disebut sebelum ini. Dan anda akan faham signifikan posting saya Pengikut Imam Mahdi Adalah Pemuda Remaja. Saya sudah berikan kepada anda contoh yang mudah yang dapat saya dan anda faham.

Persoalannya, adakah saya ‘remaja tua’ (adakah saya sudah terlepas gerabak keretapi?) dan anda pemuda remaja yang mempunyai potensi yang besar sanggup menyahut cabaran Allah dalam Surah al-Kahfi? Lihat pemuda remaja, anda mempunyai kuasa yang besar! Tetapi ada suatu kuasa godless di luar sana yang ingin merampas kuasa anda! Tidakkah anda tertanya-tertanya mengapa keruntuhan akhlak remaja semakin menjadi-jadi hingga menjadi bualan golongan ‘remaja tua’ seperti saya dan menggariskan seribu satu jalan penyelesaian untuk membendung masalah ini dan memasukkannya dalam soalan esei PMR: “Apakah faktor-faktor yang menyebabkan masalah keruntuhan akhlak remaja? Sila jawab dengan tidak melebihi 200 patah perkataan.” tetapi masalah ini tetap berlaku? Adakah ini hanya satu kebetulan?

Sila tonton video Shaykh Imran Nazar Hosein: Moral and Character of Muslim Youths

Sila rujuk juga e-Book oleh Shaykh Imran Nazar Hosein: Surah Al Kahf - Arabic text - Translation and Modern Commentary dan Surah Al-Kahf and the Modern Age

Mesej ringkas ini dibawa oleh Malakian kepada anda golongan pemuda/pemudi remaja.

Introduction

Abu Hamid ibn Muhammad al-Ghazzali is one of towering figures in Muslim thought. His diverse knowledge in many scope of intellectual fields made him a special figure in Islamic thought. His originality in his struggle to distinguish truth from falsehood put him in par with; but with his own originality and uniqueness upon - certain Western philosophers such as Rene Descartes’s method of doubt, David Hume’s skepticism and Emmanuel Kant’s criticism of pure reason. Thus, it may be reiterated that the thought of al-Ghazzali was not only of his time but of all times. His courageous and energetic quest to find truth and falsehood and of uncertainties of sectarian conflicts during his time are not only attract past and contemporary Muslim scholars to study his thoughts, but also non-Muslim scholars to extensively study his thought in every field of knowledge.

According to MacDonald, he is the equal of Augustine in the philosophical and theological disciplines; by on his side the Aristotelian philosophers of Islam seem beggarly compilers and scholastics. However, Imam al-Ghazzali did not discard philosophy in toto, but he analyzed the practices of the Muslim philosophers of his time and elucidated the wrongdoings of their thoughts according to his religious understandings through the guidance of the Qur’an and the hadith or the tradition. Thus, Imam al-Ghazzali is not upholding the orthodox belief through dogmatic method, but through critical analysis and justification. This can be coined as a ‘dynamic orthodoxy.’ It also worth noted that the intellectual development of Imam al-Ghazzali was dynamic in progress in which, through his work, one can trace the complexity and diverse thought of Imam al-Ghazzali which may explained other elements of intellectual thought that may influenced the world view of al-Ghazzali such as Platonism and Neo-Platonism and even Aristotelian philosophy and logic to counter back to what he perceived as heterodox elements during his age. This notion has been suggested by scholars such as Hava Lazarus Yafeh. However, this is not within this brief essay which gives an emphasis on his life, thought and works.

His Background and Quest for True Knowledge

Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazzali, known in the Western world as Algazel, surnamed Hujjat al-Islam. i.e., “the argument of Islam. He was born in 1058 A.D. at Tus in Khurasan. His father was a pious Sufi dervish who lived a simple and modest life by working as a wool spinner. He very often visited and sat in the company of the fuqaha’, and when he listened to their sermons, he wept and prayed to God to grant him a son that would be a faqih. Just before his death, he entrusted both of his sons, Muhammad al-Ghazzali and Ahmad al-Ghazzali to a pious Sufi dervish.

After being sometime with him, Imam al-Ghazzali went to Jurhan to study with Abu Nasr al-Isma’ili. Then he went to Nayshabur to study at the feet of Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni in the Nizamiyya Academy. He became a favourite student of Imam al-Haramayn due to his exceptional intellectual acumen. He soon began to serve under his master as an assistant teacher until the latter’s death in 1085 A.D. His studies were wide ranging and extensive in nature. Among them were theology, fiqh, usul al-fiqh, science, philosophy, logic, and mysticism. Due to his excellence reputation and vigor in the course of knowledge, Nizam al-Mulk al-Tusi, the governor of Baghdad appointed him as the president of the Nizamiyya Academy of Baghdad, which was the most prestigious higher education in Baghdad during that time when he was still 20 years old. His teaching life was so successful. In one time, there were three hundred students would attend his lecture. Al-Ghazzali has achieved the highest height in his career and his earnings were more than enough to let him to live an affluent life. However, during the course of this interval, Imam al-Ghazzali fell into a deep crisis of spiritual unrest, at the extent of his health, so much that he lost all his appetite and could not teach or even utter a word during his lecture or in expressing his mental torment. This spiritual crisis is no surprise to be understood as since his child, Imam al-Ghazzali was very inquisitive and passionate young man who search after truth and wanted to know the reality of nature as it is. In his autobiography Munqidh min al-Dhalal or Deliverance from Error, he elucidated his natural nature as an ardent seeker of truth since his childhood:

“From the period of adolescence, that is to say previous to reaching my twentieth year to the present time when I have passed my fiftieth, I have ventured into this vast ocean; I have fearlessly sounded its depths, and like a resolute diver, I have penetrated its darkness and dared its dangers and abysses. I have interrogated the beliefs of each sect and scrutinized the mysteries of each doctrine, in order to disentangle truth from error and orthodoxy from heresy. I have never met one who maintained the hidden meaning of the Qur’an without investigating the nature of his belief, nor a partisan of its exterior sense without inquiring into the results of his doctrine. There is no philosopher whose system I have not fathomed, nor theologian the intricacies of whose doctrine I have not followed out.””

Imam al-Ghazzali found out that to achieve certainty and to grasp the reality of all things, he has to free himself from taqlid or blind imitation which is the simple acceptance of religious truths on authority. Imam al-Ghazzali later wrote:

“The thirst for knowledge was innate in me from an early age; it was like a second nature implanted by God, without any will of my part. No sooner had I emerged from boyhood that I had already broken the fetters of tradition and freed myself from hereditary beliefs. Having noticed how easily the children of Christians become Christians, and the children of Muslims embrace Islam, and remembering also the tradition saying ascribed to the Prophet, “Every child is born in fitra, then his parents make him Jew, Christians, or Zoroastrian,” I was moved by a keen desire to learn what was this innate disposition in the child, the nature of accidental belief imposed on him by the authority of his parents and his masters, and finally the unreasoned convictions which he derives from their instructions.”

He later on examined the source of knowledge, namely the epistemological process of knowing. His first attempt was on sense-perception. His interrogation led him to question the validity of knowledge through sense-perception:

“I then set myself earnestly to examine the notions we drive from the evidence of the senses and from the evidence of the senses and from sight in order to see if they could be called in question. The result of a careful examination was that my confidence in them was shaken. Our sight for instance, perhaps the best practiced of all our senses, observes a shadow, and finding it apparently stationary pronounces it devoid of movement. Observation and experience, however, show subsequently that a shadow moves not suddenly, it is true, but gradually and imperceptibly so that it is never really motionless… I then set myself earnestly to examine the notions we derive from the evidence of the senses and from that of the sight in order to see if they could be called in question. The result of a careful examination was that my confidence in them was shaken. Then I said unto myself, ‘Since I cannot trust to the evidence of my senses, I must rely only on intellectual conceptions based on fundamental principles.”

In due course however, his conviction on the legitimacy of intellectual capacity to arrive to truth also started to fall down. The knowledge acquired from reasoning and intellectual discernment and process might be real in relation to the thinker’s present state. However, it might not be true outside the realm of this so-called reality or the present state that is the state of sleep. Thus al-Ghazzali questioned himself – How can we differentiate between the experience of the present state and the experience we perceived when we are asleep?

“Do you not see,” I reflected, “that while asleep you assume your dreams to be indisputably real? Once awake, you recognize them for what they are – baseless chimeras. Who can assure you, then, of the reliability of notions which, when awake, you derive from the senses and from reason? In relation to your present state they may be real; but it is possible also that you may enter upon another state of being which will bear the same relation to your present state as this does to your condition when asleep. In the new sphere you will recognize that the conclusion of reason is only chimeras.”

This is undoubtedly a real state of skepticism when one even questioned the validity of reason and rational deliberation. To this state, no knowledge can be comprehended in its true sense. This may led to total collapse on the ability to derive knowledge from the nature of present realm to find the reality behind it, even to the extent to question the existence of our own self. Thus al-Ghazzali believed that the only mean for human being to perceive reality is only when one is in the state of death. Al-Ghazzali quoted the saying of the Prophet: “Men are asleep; when they die, they wake.” He then quote the word of the Qur’an: “Today We have removed the veil from thine eyes and thy sight is keen.” (Qur’an; al-Qaf, 50:22).

According to al-Ghazzali, when his thought and rational faculties were at the brink of collapse, it is the light from God, which he believed, entered his heart by the grace of God. It brought him to the conviction that this life is real and reasoning should not be dismissed as mere hallucination. If one look to the thought of Descartes, one can see that there is a parallel initial conviction of these two figures on the experience of doubt that led to a confirmation of the legitimacy of reason as tool to perceive reality. However, Descartes stopped at reason, finding certitude in the notion, “Cogito argo sum, and made this conviction as the archetype of his philosophy. Al-Ghazali on the other hand went farther. He founded certainty on the will to believe, the will to accept Divine Grace from the source of all knowledge, i.e., in the proposition “Volo ergo sum. However, this Divine Grace should not lead to irrational or abandonment of the legitimacy of religious ethical values and article of faiths.

According to al-Ghazzali, this experience of doubt leads him to break away from the shackle of Taqlid. Even though Taqlid may offer him peace of mind, Taqlid will not lead him to the conviction of truth. Taqlid may offer a person a peace of mind to abandon the quest for truth and accepted religious conviction from the people surrounding him; parents, spouse, sectarian affiliation, and teachers. It will never offer satisfaction for those who want to grasp the true religious experience through his effort and deliberation. This is really a tall order for anyone to strive for even though it is to the expense of his own peace of mind and comfortable lifestyle.

His Thought

During his time, there was a massive disunity among the Muslims under the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate. The rule of Baghdad faced disintegration as the provincial governors gained power. At the time of Imam al-Ghazzali, authority has been questioned on who has the religious authority. In his time confusion was reigning. The political situation during that time can be described as fragile. The real political power at that time was at the hand of the Seljuqs which Nizam al-Mulk was the best example and the Caliph at Baghdad was just a titular ruler. In this confusion and dissension, Nizam al-Mulk was finding what sort of Islam should the state be patronized. Imam al-Ghazzali time and again stressed that the main veil that hinder one to experience the existence of God is religious fanaticism. Religion then thus according to him is not a tool to splinter the society into various sects and parties. Nizam al-Mulk could see that Imam al-Ghazzali is a figure that could bring stability to the state and could bring down the political and social dissension over his rule.

Before the birth of Imam al-Ghazzali until his time, the different sects of Islam often came to a heated dispute among themselves. The disciples of one Imam would be ardent enemies of the followers of another. No sect would tolerate the beliefs of other sects. Al-Ghazzali himself was persecuted at the hands of the theologians, and even his books were burnt in Spain because they preached freedom of thought. Religion became dry and didactic and just for the sake of performing formal practices and rituals. The rationale, ethical significance and wisdom behind these religious practices were ignored and belittled. Some of the theologians taught Islam in order to extract money and gain popularity.

Al-Ghazzali found all the religious sects of his time to be extremely biased, uncompromising and exclusive in nature. Members of one sect hurled other sects as heretics on the ground if slight differences of opinion. Every sect claimed that it alone was in possession of the truth. Al-Ghazzali analyzed each sect in his various works. In the Munqidh, he examined the position of the Batinis or the Ta’limites of the Shi’ite Isma’ilis, the theologians, the Sufis and the different sects of the philosophers. To pacify the different sects he showed in Ihya’ that each of the four great Imam of the fiqh madhhab was a model of pious conduct.

Imam al-Ghazzali in his work Munqidh scrutinized the different sects during his time. There are the theologians, the philosophers, the Ta’limites or the Batiniyyah of the Isma‘ilite Shi‘ite, and the Sufis.

Imam al-Ghazzali categorized the philosophers during his time into three main categories. They are the Theists or Illahiyyun, the Naturalists or the Tabi‘iyun, and the Materialists or the Atheists or the Dahriyun. In his book entitled Tahafut al-Falasifah (Incoherence of the Philosophers), he gave his critics on the thought of the Muslim philosophers particularly al-Farabi and Ibn Sina. In this work, as MacDonald outs it he smote the philosophers hip and thigh, he turned the philosophers’ own weapon against them as was done by al-Ash‘ari earlier and proved that which their premises and methods no certainty could be reached. He argues that many of the philosophers doctrines were oisitively false and baseless such as: the eternity and everlastingness of the world; emanation from God intelligences and souls of the celestial spheres and these spheres’ possessing the knowledge of the particulars; delimitation of God’s knowledge merely to universals; denial of miracles based on a view of causation; the denial of bodily resurrection in the life hereafter, etc.

According to Imam al-Ghazzali, he achieved his contentment in his pursuit of knowledge in Sufism:

“I learnt from a sure source that the Sufis are the true pioneers on the path of God: that there is nothing more beautiful than their life, or more praiseworthy than their rule of conduct, or purer than their morality.”

He continued his assays on some of the controversial concept in the world of Sufism:

“The degree of proximity to Deity which they (the Sufis) attain is regarded by some as intermixture of being, (hulul), by others as identification (ittihad), by others as intimate union (wasl). But all these expressions are wrong, as we have explained in our work entitled The Chief Aim. Those who have reached that stage should confine themselves to repeating the verse: What I experience I shall not try to say: Call me happy, but ask me no more.”

In Mishkat al- Anwar (Niche of the Light), al-Ghazzali regarded Mansur al-Hallaj as a great Sufi, but according to him al-Hallaj should not uncover the secret of ecstasy experience to the masses.

This book was written by late Roderic H. Davison who was then a Professor at George Washington University. Mr. Davison was a renowned scholar in Ottoman history and holds the position as the President of both Middle East Studies Association and the Turkish Studies Association at the university.

In this book, the author tried to study the reform of the Ottoman Empire or known as the Tanzimat in Turkish which literally means reorganization that started in 1839 and ended with the establishment of the First Constitutional in 1876. The Tanzimat reform refers to the various attempts to modernize the Ottoman Empire by adopting Western ideas and practices into the administration, social, political, economic and others of the Ottoman Empire.

The writer try to discuss the reform attempts that was carried out during the reign of Sultan Mahmud II and Sultan Abdul Mejid and the Western educated grand vezir like Ali Pasha, Fuad Pasha, Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, and Midhat Pasha. He also discussed the influence of this Tanzimat to the establishment of modern Turkey by Mustafa Kemal Attaturk. This book was well-documented and the author has used numerous and extensive written historical sources ranging from primary sources that were written in Turkish and French, and other secondary sources. The author has put a large effort to collect the relevant materials and assessed it accordingly. This make this books a precious material for historians and students of Ottoman history.

The Tanzimat movement was a controversial issue to be discussed in one way or another. However, the author succeeded to documented the events chronologically and in some ways, guide the readers to understand the political condition of this period to make an assessment of how this movement happen and what led this important event in Ottoman history.
This book helps the readers to understand this major historical event on Ottoman history. Especially to English-speaking readers who do not have any access to Turkish and other foreign language historical materials.

In Chapter I, Introduction: Decline and Reform to 1856, the author elucidated the background of the Ottoman Empire that leds to the Tanzimat reform. The author deals with the decision by Sultan Abdul Mejid to announce the Hatt-i Humayun, an imperial edict on the organizational reform of the Ottoman Empire.

According to the author, this attempt was a timely decision as a solution for the internal problems within the Ottoman administration and to curb the pressure from the Europeans power. The Tanzimat or reorganization including the adoption and adaptation of some Western ideas and institutions in several fields, included administration, military, economic, social, and political. According to the author, the decay of the old administrative of the Ottoman Empire was inadequate to face the internal pressures and had been the one of the primary reasons for Ottoman weakness. During the past decades, the Ottoman Empire was very patient in controlling and maintaining its stability. However the Tanzimat attempt was quite a rapid one. The uncritical and over-zealous adoption of Western ideas laid the basis of the ultimate secularization of governmental administration and social upheaval. Tanzimat reform by Sultan Abdul Mejid was a stepping stone of secularism-cult that was crystallized during the time of Mustafa Kemal Attaturk.

The author perceived this reform as step to revitalize the empire and preserve it in a world ordered by European power and civilization. This reform according to the author was not only about the justice and equality to the minorities and non-Muslims, but also reform in military, economic, social, intellectual, legal, and political. The author believed that this reform was not intended to “throw dust in the eyes of Europe”, but revitalize the Empire back.

It is worthy to mention the influence of the idea of Enlightenment and French Revolution led to the establishment of the Tanzimat reform. These reforms had been introduced not only to save the Empire but to satisfy and placate the Great Powers, who used the ill-treatment of non-Muslim minorities as a pre-text to further their own aims.

In Chapter II, the author deals with the measures of the Tanzimat reforms. It included the abolition of tax farming, the abolition of bribery, strict observance of annual budgets, the establishment of banks, the employment of European capital and skills for economic improvement, the codification of penal code, commercial law, reform of the prison system, and the establishment of mixed courts for Muslim and non-Muslims.The author also explains the challenges faced by the Tanzimat movement from the ulema, and the Janissaries.

In Chapter VI, the author discussed the formation of the young Turks. He elucidated the influence of Mazzini’s Young Italy on the Young Turks. These Young Turks were also influenced by the Jacobins of the French Revolution. Regarding the relationship between the Mazzini’s Young Italy and the Young Turks, there is another source that can support the author’s argument. Nesta Webster, in his work, Secret Societies and Subversive Movement (1928, p.284) writes that: “The Young Turk movement began in Masonic Lodges of Thessaloniki under the direct supervision of the Grand Lodge of Italy, which later shared in the success of Mustapha Kemal.”

In concluding remark of this chapter, the author stressed that there is a danger of over estimating the impact of the Young Turk on the course of events in the Ottoman Empire.

In the last chapter, the author deals with the Constitution of 1876. The aims of the constitution were the welfare of all Ottoman peoples, who should enjoy the blessings of liberty, justice, and equality, and safeguarding the government from absolutist monarchy, and put the government under the power of the State. The author argued that the entire constitution was Western in inspiration. One way or another, this is true. It is in essence was based on the concept of the Enlightenment and French Revolution. The author stated that the Tanzimat reform was a stepping stone for Mustafa Kemal Attaturk attempt to turn Ottoman Empire to a modern Turkey. The Tanzimat then was a means of individual liberties. On the importance of people, public opinion, and other elements that related to Western political system as opposed to monarchical sovereignty.

Through this book, it seems that the author viewed the Tanzimat movement as a step for the betterment of the Empire. However, in one hand, this movement opened the Empire to foreign infiltration. In the proceeding period, we can see that the Empire was still in the state of deterioration. When Sultan Abdul Hamid became the Caliph, the Empire was already on the edge of collapse. The Empire’s economy was increasingly being controlled by the great powers, especially France and England, under the terms of the capitulations which led to economic control and manipulation from these two great powers during that time.

Turkey then is just another ‘victim’ of the implementation of Hegelian theory in practice of creating false conflict to create a new synthesis. The synthesis was the abolishment of the Caliphate. In one way or another, creating conflict is not only a tactic in winning in battles and wars, but also in controlling other people. Reform, or islah or Tanzimat in Turkish language is not wrong in essence, but it relies upon on who is responsible in this action and on what motive and purpose.